TAMPA — And somehow you knew this Bruins team had to make things hard at least one more time before the curtain falls.

It would’ve been way too easy for them to close out the Tampa Bay Lightning tonight at the St. Pete Times Forum and start preparing for the Vancouver Canucks and the Stanley Cup Final.

Instead, they’ll play a do-or-die game in Boston Friday that could validate everything they’ve done over the last eight months or leave them two steps shy of their ultimate goal.

David Krejci’s hat trick wasn’t enough to overcome a lack of discipline and an ineffective penalty kill in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Final, as the Lightning hung on for a 5-4 victory to push the series to the limit.

Here’s a quick glance at the box score:

•In addition to Krejci’s hat trick, linemates Milan Lucic (one goal, one assist) and Nathan Horton (two assists) were also impossible for the Lightning to handle.

•Tim Thomas made just 21 saves on 26 shots.

•The Bruins power play scored a rare goal and finished 1-for-5. The power play is now 5-for-61 in the postseason.

•After coming into the game with 16 kills in 18 Tampa Bay opportunities, the Bruins’ penalty kill was just 1-for-4.

•The Lightning’s “Big Three” of Martin St. Louis, Steven Stamkos and Vinny Lecavalier combined for eight points, including three goals.

Boychuk was at his worst last night, but Johnny’s been pretty good at redeeming himself when push comes to shove. We’ve also got to believe that even while the TB powerplay heats up, the Bruins will show more discipline and improve their PK tomorrow. At least it was nice to see the HuLK line get going again.

All that being said, I’m starting to think that Tomas Kaberle is an utter waste of a lineup spot. I’m not saying Kampfer or Hnidy are ‘the answer’ for tomorrow night, but CJ needs to considerably reduce Kab’s minutes to single digit/Sheriff territory. Not only has he been a complete liability in his own end, but has actually HURT the already dreadful Bruins PP to boot. He can’t effectively dump the puck in deep, can’t do anything productive with the puck if/when they have possession (either skates the puck into no mans land, forces a bad pass, or plays catch with the other point), and is so predictable that TB can give him ample space as he shivers with indecision over whether to fake another slapshot or keep playing ‘hot potato’ with the puck. I know its not all his fault – the forwards aren’t doing ANYTHING with their PP time, either – and its sometimes more lazy than fair to dump so much blame on one guy (read: Wideman), but let’s be honest. Kaberle has been nothing short of a total bust, and while I could care less about Joe Colborne and a couple draft picks leaving town, I want the Bruins to make the most of this playoff run. Can they do that with Kaberle in the lineup, wasting a spot on the man advantage and eating up any more than six minutes of ice time? I hope so, because I don’t see Claude making any moves between now and gametime.

Ferrence also made the worst possible play on that 2 on 1 that Downie set stamkos up for: he went onto his hands and knees so the pass went under him rather than if he had laid out. If he is going to go down, he needs to go all the way or just stay up.

Boychuk was flat out awful – on ice for all three PP goals and the stupid pinch down move that resulted in a 2-1 goal by St. Louis. Pathetic 0-4 on the power play when they could have put the game away!

Agreed about the late push from the boys, but Jesus, they gotta play a full 60 minutes of hockey. They get sloppy and lax and that for sure ain’t gonna win them any games. We’ve seen the capable B’s and let’s hope we get a full 60 from ’em Friday.

It seems that Thomas really is the difference between victory and loss for the Bruins. In Game 6 he played, when compared to his usual standard anyway, very poorly. Couple that with a non-existant PK, and it’s no surprise that even a Krecji hat trick couldn’t win us the game. What I cannot explain is that, shy of Game 3, why the B’s are playing so badly. At only a couple of points this series have the Bruins played Bruins hockey to the standard we are used to and expect from them. If we do not raise our game, start asserting some authority, pull up black and gold socks and start playing with a brain, Vancouver will absolutely take us to the cleaners.

Loved the push back late, but wish it didn’t have to get to that. The Bolts PP certainly woke up, the boys are going to have to try to keep that beast in it’s cage on Friday. Glad that it’ll be on home ice.